


Dick Grayson: A Study

by Aristos_Achaion1734



Series: Studies [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), Titans (TV 2018)
Genre: Character Study, Coping, Dark, Dark Dick Grayson, F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Morally Ambiguous Dick Grayson, Past Character Death, Trauma, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, just mentioned, not explicit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-13 03:29:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28896669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aristos_Achaion1734/pseuds/Aristos_Achaion1734
Summary: A study to look inside the character of Dick Grayson - NightwingI started on this site as a project for me to improve my English creative writing Skills, but I’ve decided to branch out and do character studies also, as this would help me too. The psychoanalysis part of this will help me in psychology as well. I also think it's a good idea as it gives insight to readers about how I portray the characters in my own stories, so I’m killing four birds with one stone here :)
Relationships: Barbara Gordon & Dick Grayson, Barbara Gordon/Dick Grayson, Cassandra Cain & Dick Grayson, Catalina Flores/Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson & Alfred Pennyworth, Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson & Duke Thomas, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Dick Grayson & Wally West, Dick Grayson/Jason Todd, Dick Grayson/Koriand'r, Stephanie Brown & Dick Grayson, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson
Series: Studies [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2119257
Comments: 11
Kudos: 36





	Dick Grayson: A Study

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Hugs](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16708462) by [Redzik](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redzik/pseuds/Redzik). 



> Disclaimer: This is all my personal ponderings, head-canons, and psychoanalyses of the character of Dick Grayson – Nightwing. 
> 
> All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended.
> 
> Some of this, which you recognise, may be canonical, some are inspired by other fics I’ve read (if I remember specific inspirations I will link the fic I was inspired by and which part), and some are my personal musings of how Dick would react to his environment. 
> 
> The personal musings are just that - personal. I welcome anyone to a discussion to broaden my views, but I don't wish for anyone to send any hate messages or angry critisisms because they don't agree with my portrayal of the character.
> 
> It does not want to let me add me add more than one 'inspired by' fic so, in order of mention:  
> \- https://archiveofourown.org/works/16708462 - 'Hugs' by Redzik  
> \- https://archiveofourown.org/works/20432768 - 'Violence Hums Beneath My Skin (I Think There's a Fault In My Code)' by lostandlonelybirds (RUNNFROMTHEAK)  
> \- https://archiveofourown.org/works/23363236 - 'The One Where Dick's a Badass' by sporktato

First and foremost, Dick Grayson has been through a lot of trauma within his short life, and that is bound to leave some sort of psychological scars. However he isn’t outwardly reactive to his trauma, much of it is internalised.

To list a few traumatic events in Grayson’s life; Parent’s death; Villains on the street/constant kidnappings; Deathstroke has been portrayed to have a bad history with Dick Grayson, many times traumatic; Fired from Robin; Jason’s death; Barbara’s Paralysis; Tim’s apparent death; Mirage; Tarantula and Blockbuster; Crime syndicate and Murder Machine; Spyral; Memory loss. And that cannot be the complete list.

\-----

**1**

I personally perceive Dick as a people pleaser. Not necessarily out of the selfless desire to please, but rather to take away attention from himself. I believe his desire to be the gracious big brother who always showers people with gifts and affection to be a coping mechanism as well a tool to hide his true feelings.

Firstly, I perceive it as a coping mechanism as it undoubtedly gives him a hit of dopamine. As a psychology student, I learned that dopamine is naturally released when a person sets a goal and achieves is. It’s a natural high. Applying this to Grayson’s character, I deduce that he uses this method subconsciously to get that ‘natural high’ the hit of dopamine provides. He sets the goal of making his subject, say Tim, happy, he achieves it, he’s happy in return. He probably doesn’t realise this is a coping mechanism, just thinking he enjoys making people happy, no ulterior motive. Which is true on some accounts, as he does enjoy making people happy, but he does also use it to cope with his trauma.

Secondly, I believe this is something that Dick realises he does. He takes the attention off himself, and displaces it onto something else to make people believe he’s okay. In this case he places it on the gift or positive attention he places upon the subject, who had previously asked him a question about his wellbeing, tricking said subject into feeling satisfaction with his answer. The subject will actually feel satisfaction from the compliment/gift but the well placed timing of the compliment/gift will confuse the subject into thinking they’re actually satisfied with his answer.

To simplify, the subject of this manipulation, say Damian, might be inquisitive, demanding to know if Dick has been sleeping. Once Dick reassures him, to stop further questioning where he knows he might slip up and reveal something he doesn’t want to, he will take the negative attention off of himself, and move it onto Damian in the form of positive attention, who, then tricked into satisfaction, will let the issue be.

Case in point:

“Me? Oh yeah I’m doing well, just a bit tired from work, you know how it is. Hey what are you drawing by the way? Let me see. Oh Jesus Little D, that is honestly something to go into gallery I swear. Well done.”

“Tt, I _know_ that Richard, it is rather unfortunate its beauty is being wasted to your eyes.”

(This is actually a teaser to Chapter 2 of ‘Friends- Sorry, Boyfriends*’ that is in the works)

\-----

**2**

There is another way in which this method takes attention away, which is by associating himself with happiness, and positivity in everyone else’s minds. When Jason thinks of Dick he thinks about the golden boy who shines brighter than the sun because that is the association that Dick placed in his head through his actions. No one even thinks to question if Dick ‘I am happy and cheery and I crack puns every day’ Grayson is mentally in the right place. Similarly, Grayson smiles a lot of the time, he is almost always observed to have either a smile, or a grin, or a smirk on his lips at all times. How are others supposed to ever question if he is brought down by trauma? He seems untouchable in their minds. Like no negativity can touch him. It’s unthinkable.

To be clear, it might sound like Dick doesn’t feel happy at all, or that he isn’t actually the caring brother, but instead uses the affection for selfish gain. That is not what I wish to portray here. As anyone who has ever experienced trauma, or a depression/anxietal streak knows, it’s a fluctuating cycle. You’re happy, only to feel down in the next few minutes. You can go months with no bad episode and then it hits you full force. And in terms of Dick using the affection to take away attention, yes I see him to utilise the effectiveness of it, especially since I would not be questioned. But I only see that to happen a minority of the time. Most (90%) of the time the affection is genuine, and heartfelt, it is only when he is ‘backed into a corner’ that he uses this.

\-----

**3**

Dick Grayson is a hugger. He is a massive hugger and relishes in physical attention. He feels loved and cared for. Safe. He hates sleeping alone. He relies on the physical comfort to fuel him in a sense. One of the ‘Inspired by’ that I added was ‘Hugs’ by Redzik, and I like to think Dick is that reliant on hugs, just without the added element of him actually _sustaining_ himself off of them.

However, as much as Dick likes the hugs for himself, he also wants for his closest people to feel that way as well. He wants to be the person to make them feel safe, wants to protect them. Which leads me on to my fourth point:

\-----

**4**

Dick is a mamma bear. He wants to take everyone under his wing and protect them, (Titans 2x02 “you can’t resist a bird with a broken wing.”)

Dick feels responsible, he set the role of Robin, he was the first kid sidekick, he is the oldest brother, he is the leader, and he is the protégé of Batman. He carries it all on his shoulders and he wants to make it right.

No matter how many times anyone will tell him it’s not his fault, whatever it is, Grayson will always feel in some way that it is.

And sometimes he will try to avoid the problem, run from it, lie and cheat around it so that no one can tell he screwed up, even if he doesn’t actually screw up, just thinks he did. However that tends to push people away more often. (Titans 2x07 & 2x08).

\-----

**5**

Dick is a flirt. He is aware he looks good, and uses it to his advantage. He regularly offers to be the bait in undercover operations. On some level, it is conceited and egotistical in nature, see point 6, however here I’m focusing on the ‘why’ from a trauma perspective.

Dick was objectified since he hit the robin shorts by many perverts, up to now during Nightwing, where his rear is objectified daily, one could say. Dick suffered these advances, objectifications, harassments, etc. Dick also suffered rape at the hands of Tarantula, Catalina Flores, and Mirage. Naturally, this would lead to a feeling of lack of control of his sexual life, where he would be desperately reaching for control.

Unhealthy as it is, he would reach for that control in the sense of objectifying himself, but on his own terms. By flirting, choosing to play bait, etc.

\-----

**6**

I mentioned possible conceited and egotistical nature. Dick is a celebrity, a Wayne. Media always played up the image of the prestigious Wayne family. The objectifications in his past must hold some truth to them, right? If so many people are saying them.

All of this served to make Dick believe that he is an attractive man. That he has sex appeal. That he is beautiful. Which of course leads to an elevated sense of self, in terms of physical appearance. Not that it is far off the mark, he is all of the above, and his ego is not elevated to an unstable point, it might be the most positive thing to his mental health to have such an opinion of one’s appearance.

\-----

**7**

Dick is insecure. We’ve established that physically he is secure and that he has obvious trauma that he tried to hide and cope with, but we haven’t addressed how the death of his parents would have affected him.

I believe, based on real life events I have witnessed, that the loss at such a young age forms a trust issue/abandonment issue. Dick doesn’t trust people, because he doesn’t trust that they will stay. It may not have been his parents’ fault that they died, but his young subconscious didn’t see a difference. Either way; they left.

When Dick meets new people he will immediately get clingy, charm them into his life, make them intrigued with him enough that they want to stay, _hook._

Dick then withdraws, still stays in their life but their friendship will remain at a standstill from Dick’s side, he is waiting for them to try and hook _him_ in. A test, can he trust them to not abandon him? _Line._

Finally after the test proves that they won’t leave, Dick will open back up, drag the friend in deep into his life, slowly. That is not to mean that they immediately know about Nightwing, every one of these processes takes years, the last one the longest. _Sinker_.

This is a real life example of what one of my friends does. They experienced a loss of the family at an early age, and confided this to me. I have permission to use this as a case study so long as I do not state names.

I thought it to be fitting to Dick’s character. He is not outwardly hostile as Jason and Bruce can be, these two members of the family being the two that were closest in age to Dick when they all lost their individual parents, hence giving a good contrasting point. He does not have the luxury to just grunt or snarl or punch and walk away. He has to be the guy who hasn’t got trauma, who is open about things, and this is a way in which he fits that criteria while also showing signs of trauma, not just having it written off like the DC writers tend to do.

I believe this is also fitting as said friend has massive chaotic energy and is generally the most positive and optimistic in a room. Same with Grayson. Within my fic ‘Friends- Sorry, Boyfriends*’ you will see Dick acting in a chaotic, goofy manner, making himself, automatically, the most interesting and intriguing person in the room, attracting attention, hooking people in.

**\-----**

**8**

Dick has an internal monologue, as most people do.

(Fun fact: some people do not have an internal monologue, or an active imagination. Test it. Imagine a red star in your mind. Or a blue Chihuahua. If you can’t, you probably have afantasia. Take this with a grain of salt though!)

Dick is generally sarcastically critical of himself within his monologue. He falls over, _well done Grayson you graceful fucker._ Not that he would, just an example, this is not a teaser.

Or as seen in ‘friends- Sorry, Boyfriends*’ Chapter 1 – “ _Damn you, brain-mouth filter. Roll with it, Grayson.“_ As well as “ _Probably noting how much of a chaotic dumbass you’ve become._ “

This, at first reading, almost sound like him practising jokes or being quirky, in reality I would perceive that as insecurity.

However he does turn them into jokes. Sarcastic jokes of oneself in Grayson’s case could be interpreted as positivity, him accepting these parts of himself, however unwillingly.

\-----

**9**

It is a known headcanon, maybe its canonical, I am not too sure, but Dick has a temper. He is easy to anger. However it is hard to get him to react.

In many of the fics that I have read, Jason is always the guy who realises this, and knows how to push all the right buttons to _make_ him react. 

Dick doesn’t let his younger brothers know about his temper, though he is stern when he needs to be, as he has the image of the ‘perfect’ son, that he wants to uphold, doesn’t want to burden them with his issues, he rather give them a role model than unleash his temper on them, which is admirable, though unhealthy in some ways as it represses emotions.

His temper is seen in the joker last laugh comics (I believe it is those ones) where Dick kills the Joker. His temper was pushed and stretched until he couldn’t possibly stretch it anymore and he snapped. Killing the Joker, although he was resuscitated.

Canonically, Dick is seen to have guilt over this, but personal headcanon -> he outwardly portrays guilt as he doesn’t want people to know he actually wishes the death of the Joker has stuck. Which leads me to my tenth point.

**\-----**

**10**

Dick actually has his own brand of moral code, I took inspiration from 'Violence Hums Beneath My Skin (I Think There's a Fault In My Code)' by lostandlonelybirds (RUNNFROMTHEAK) at the point where blockbuster had just died.

The story is amazing, a recommended read if you wish to understand my point fully, but what I mean is that in that moment after Blockbusters death, the line ‘ _Blockbuster’s death solved more problems than he liked to admit.‘_ is my base of Dick’s moral code. He will not kill, himself. But if others do and if it is the better thing to do he will be passive about it. Which is why his relationship with Jason is more evolved in my headcanons.

Lots of people will disagree with me on this but I believe that when Dick left to become Nightwing, his blind loyalty to every single Bruce says left too. Sure he has respect but he also takes everything with a grain of salt and forms his own opinions on the matter. Which also accounts for his moral code.

Supported in Titans 1x06 in the dialogue between Jason and Dick,

Dick: “I killed [spoiler alert]”

Jason: “The guy who [spoiler alert]?

That’s a win either way you look at it

One less scumbag in the face of the planet

Man that must have felt awesome”

Dick: “Yeah, that’s the problem”

And in 2x07

Bruce: “And then what?”

Dick: “bury him”

Dick admitted he enjoyed the act of killing to Jason, although he admits it was probably a little unstable of him to hold that opinion. And admits to a hallucination of Bruce that he is willing to do it again.

\-----

**11**

My final point is also inspired by a fic I read. Once again, it is a recommended read, ‘The One Where Dick's a Badass’ by sporktato. It is terribly hard to explain my point without spoiling the fic, so if you wish to remain entirely spoiler free, read the fic and then come back, I will try to avoid major spoilers but, warnings. Also, since that is a sequel to ‘The One Where Dick's Brothers Are (Unnecessarily) Worried About Him’ by the same author so read that one first for context, it’s not overly long!

The point:

Dick was the first child side-kick and, due to the bat’s paranoia, he was heavily over trained to the point where he considered himself a weapon, this is also supported by Titans 1x06 “All those years Bruce was helping me? He was turning me into a weapon. His weapon,” even saying “you can’t unlearn what he teaches you and you can’t control it”

Dick is dangerous, highly dangerous. Bruce’s contingency plan of sorts. He is always underestimated by his family, because they all think they’ve received the same training, when they haven’t.

Dick is dangerous, and no one realises just how much. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope people enjoyed this, I plan on posting one of these for every major character I plan on writing x


End file.
